Podcast: Powering people’s movements through music and rap

Sofia Ashraf, noted feminist singer/ rapper from India whose songs address the negligence of corporations that fail to clean up industrial disasters, and a digital content creator, was among the plenary speakers of the 3rd Asia Pacific Feminist Forum (APFF 2017). Her 2008 song criticized the chemical company Dow’s failure to compensate victims of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy in India. In 2015 she led a campaign against Unilever in India, through her music video, “Kodaikanal Won’t” addressing mercury pollution in Kodaikanal from a thermometer factory, leading to compensation for hundreds of families.

She talks about a range of issues confronting women human rights, and exploring if music and particularly rapping can help power the movements.